DualShock 4 Light Bar Can’t Be Turned Off Because Of Virtual Reality

The PlayStation 4’s controller, DualShock 4, is a big improved over all of its predecessors. Not only does it have a new and improved design, it also packs a motion sensor, integrated speaker and even a light bar. A lot of people have complained about Sony not giving an option to turn off the light bar which obviously sucks power from the controller’s battery. Turns out there’s actually a pretty good reason behind it.

The company did make amends with the recent PS4 software update version 1.70 though. Even though it still doesn’t allow us to turn off the light bar completely, it is now possible to change the intensity of the light bar. Set it to dim in the settings menu and you’re probably going to save some battery life.

In an interview with Techradar senior designer at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Jed Ashforth, revealed that it was actually the company’s virtual reality unit that ensured that the controller had a tracking light. But when they made the decision Sony’s VR plans were not public so they couldn’t actually tell us why the light bar was there.

“It was for tracking for VR,” Ashforth said, adding that it was the company’s department which said “we need that on.” In case you don’t know what Sony’s VR plans are, check out our detailed review of Project Morpheus, it has finally made its virtual reality headset public.